In a Blink
by Athrna
Summary: A compilation of short one-shots. It's about feelings, growth and time passing by. They are now adults, getting on with their own lives. What has changed and what hasn't changed? A fading friendship, an undoubtful trust that is now distant, and perhaps a piece of unrequited love left unattended. Will Tomoyo seize it or will it slip away from her like it did all those years ago?
1. Skyline

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. Copyright to Clamp.

A/N: My first non-Naruto fic on this account. I'm very excited for this compilation of short one-shots. Please enjoy reading.

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**Skyline**

In the season when cherry blossom takes the scene, she waits in a little corner at end of a street. The pink petals mischievously linger onto her purple-black hair. Wind blows away her elegant picture hat as she tries to hold down her dress. The fallen flowers scatter in the warm breeze and have it carried them, travelling and reaching a new destination.

A few white clouds are floating in the blue sky.

Innocent, simple-minded, but refined. Something is special about spring.

It sets itself different from the other seasons.

"Tomoyo-chan!" A cheerful voice called out from a distance.

Her smile grows warmer to the sight of the girl. "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura scratches her head sheepily and gives an embarrassed smile, "I'm late. So sorry." The brunnette claps her hands together for a sincere apology.

"Don't worry about it. As long as I get to film the reunion between Lee-kun and you, that's all it counts." She takes her video recorder in hand and has it stead-by.

"Hehehe…" Sakura lets out a few dry laughs. Her best friend hasn't changed much after all these years. "Let's go! Let's not keep Syaoran waiting." Hue of redness is spreading across her cheeks as they hurry.

Resting her chin on her palm in one hand and holding her recording camera in the other, Tomoyo self-indulges in her friend's cuteness. Sakura hasn't changed too much over years. That is for the better. Just that now, they have grown. Tomoyo has become a famed fashion designer, Sakura works as a primary teacher and Syaoran has become the sole successor of his family business. They may share a childhood of secret and magic together. Time moves on.

They are now young adults walking on their own paths.

They are cousins and the closest of friends, but they no longer spend nearly as much time with each other like they used to.

Although Sakura has a habit to call out Tomoyo when she goes to the amusement park, Tomoyo doesn't want to play the third wheel. It was the place of her confession and there have been many memorable things happen there. It's their favourite dating spot when Syaoran gets his time off and flies all the way from Hong Kong.

And that's why Tomoyo excuses herself nine out of ten times from trashing the little precious time they have together. Every time is so perfectly disguised. Even when she is free and more than willing to join them, reminiscing the good old times. Still, they don't see how she is avoiding them deliberately. Of course, that is done to let the people she treasures most to find their own happiness; she can't help but to feel hurt, seeing them so blissfully fortunate and together.

She still has the sky. She can look up and find comfort in it.

It's still beautifully blue. That's right. Blue.

A darker of shade blue is taking over the view above as summer approaches. That colour reminds her of him. Mysterious but well-intended.

Unlike baby blue, it just doesn't take have a pureness from within. There's something else. Something idyllic, something distinctive, and something familiar.

"Long time no see, Daidouji-san."

It is his voice. She doesn't need to turn around to tell who he is. The way he politely addresses her surname, the way he holds an umbrella over her head when the light shower continues to rain, the way he patiently waits in silence before she gives him a response.

"It has been long, hasn't it, Hiiragizawa-kun?"


	2. Coffee

**Coffee**

Fallen leaves were swaying in autumn wind. The clouds were piling one after another, blocking ray of the sun. The grey sky marked it a gloomy day. She looked outside the shop, watching the carpet of copper leaves on the ground emitting a haze of gold under the meek sunlight.

"This is a nice seat," Tomoyo said in the softest of her voice. She reached and took the cup of cappuccino in her hand.

He was going to say something important. To him. And to her.

Intuition.

"Kaho and I are getting married," Eriol cut the silence between them that had stayed for some time since they entered the coffee shop. His smile still wore that charming grace since he had ever had back in primary school when they first met. "We'd love to have you in our wedding, Daidouji-san."

There was a pause before she could return from her many thoughts. Cloudy and confusing.

"Is that so?" Tomoyo held a rigid smile on her face. She would not falter. He might have played with her feelings, but she would not let herself tumble. "Well, congratulations, Hiiragizawa-kun," she gave her regards politely.

Afraid that he would see the sadness in her gaze, she lowered her head. Perhaps, this cup of coffee was the only thing saw through her unshed tears. As she sipped in much unspoken frustration, the foam that took a heart shape was distorting, leaving a distress mess of brown and white. The milk did not make balance the bitterness of the coffee, but only enhanced the disappointment that was stabbing her heart. It was no longer a whole. Like her cup of coffee, a hole was marked in her heart.

His words left her empty. Each was a drill that could pierce down to the deepest of her being.

The honorifics they used to address each other, the upfront formality in the conversation and the thing that was left between them.

They went to school together.

There was never a beginning. It was only natural that they would this ending.

A piece of unrequited love, a cup of bitter coffee, and two school friends.


	3. That Winter

**That Winter**

Was it the ground that was outlaid, or was it the snow that ignorantly embraced?

The earth was dying in the winter cold.

_The truth lies behind her closed eyelids. She now learns and those words of honesty will forever faze in flame._

A wooden boat was ready to set sail at the shore of frozen sea. The sky wore a shade of sombre grey and the horizon merged, became a part of the skyline.

_I loved her just as I have loved all of you. Each of you. Each reincarnation of you._

In their true form, Spinel and Ruby Moon stood next to master. No one said a word throughout the ceremony. There was only the sound of crying. Eriol summoned his mystical staff, muttering spells under his stuttering breaths. He was sobbing. The tears were dried, but his heart were still weeping. Forcing out a smile, his eyes fixed on the boat. It was set on fire by his magic. There she laid soundly in peace. He dropped his head, letting go of his stubbornness.

_Kaho is dead._

His guardians flipped their wings and the forceful wind sent the blazing soulless body away. What was remained of Mizuki Kaho was reducing to ash. At the side, his descendants were all in grief. They couldn't say a word. Sakura was wailing in her husband's comforting arms. Although quietly, Syaoran was crying too. For Touya, it was as though he was experiencing the pain of losing his mother all over again. Touya cried as hard as he could. On his knees, he questioned fate's foul sense of humour. They were once a couple. Even though they were mostly miles apart from each other, they were the best of friends. They understood each other. Yukito didn't cry like the others to express his condolence, but he lent his shoulder to his partner.

And then there was Tomoyo. She stood motionlessly and stared into endlessness. Just that. Because she didn't know what she was supposed to feel.

Tomoyo was jealous of Kaho. So jealous that she had once wished Kaho would disappear from this world. Maybe then Tomoyo could have what she never had, but now Kaho was really gone. In a battle of love, it was equal competition. That was what Tomoyo knew. What did it mean for Tomoyo?

Eriol knew of Tomoyo's feeling for him, but he chose to never return it despite his fondness of her.

_Selena, Yuuko, Madoushi, Nadeshiko, Tomoyo... All different people born and share the origin._

"There is no coincidence in the world," Eriol said to himself self-mockingly.

_Soul._

Upon hearing those words, Yue revealed himself as though he was meeting his former master. "Clow!" Yue called out in a surprised voice. The moon guardian was confused and then he recognised. Eriol was only a shadow of the man who was called Clow Reed.

Just like Fujitaka and himself. Individually and unknowingly, Fujitaka was drawn to Nadeshiko like their other counterparts and created Clow's successor. When more than one reincarnate existed simultaneously, a choice must be made. Like Kaho with Touya, Tomoyo was drawn to Sakura at first, because the trace of his past life's magic ran through her veins. Young Tomoyo was confused by her unexplained affection. Since their meeting, Tomoyo was slowly awakening from her hypnotised state of mind.

Selena's soul was now collected in one living flesh. With Fujitaka's decease, there was only him now. He was what was left of Clow Reed in the world. Clow and Selena, Clow and Yuuko, Kimihiro and Yuuko, Fujitaka and Nadeshiko...

They could be finally together until another clash of time and dimension. No world could stop between them. Together. Just the two of them.

Tomoyo was slowly seeing memories of other women in her mind. Finally, she cried. She couldn't stop crying.

"I am so loved, Clow. Thank you very much!" Tomoyo said in a bitter sweet voice. She couldn't help and let out a faint giggle. She no longer remembered she really was.

Who was Daijouji Tomoyo?

"Who are you?" Eriol asked worriedly.

He couldn't look at her. He didn't know who she was becoming anymore. Tomoyo didn't either.

"I'm..."

Tomoyo couldn't answer. She held her head. Memories of all different past lives were flooding her mind. Her body was emitting a wave of lilac glow. Everyone could sense it. It was magic.

Reconciliation magic.

"Is that you, Selena?" Eriol took his glasses briefly to rub his eyes. "It has been too long."

Tomoyo smiled, but her tears didn't stop. They were not of sadness, but happiness.

"I'm... just Tomoyo. But who do you choose to be, my dearest?"

"Eriol. Not Clow."

They ran towards each other. Falling into one another's embrace, they made a silent promise. They would start their lives anew as who they were now, not who they had once been.

Their paths would always cross. Just that it was not time for her to realise it yet.


End file.
